Framingham manager gets two raises, week of vacation

Thursday

Jun 28, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 28, 2007 at 11:05 AM

FRAMINGHAM - Town Manager Julian Suso will have a fourth week of vacation in the next year and a little extra money to spend after selectmen this week approved a merit raise to his $135,000 base salary.

D. Craig MacCormack/Daily News staff

Town Manager Julian Suso will have a fourth week of vacation in the next year and a little extra money to spend after selectmen this week approved a merit raise to his $135,000 base salary.

Suso gets a 3 percent bump, retroactive to the anniversary of his June 5 start date, to $139,050 and another 3 percent hike Jan. 5, 2008, to $143,221. He can also carry over up to two weeks of vacation.

"I thank the Board of Selectmen for their support of me and their vote of confidence in me," Suso said yesterday, a day after getting unanimous backing for the proposal.

Selectmen Chairman Dennis Giombetti said the divided raises were made to not only benefit Suso, who was city manager in Mentor, Ohio, for more than 15 years before coming to Framingham last year, but also the town.

"It gives him some money immediately, but also saves the flow of money for the town a little bit by not giving him the entire amount right up front," said Giombetti. "We're paying attention to town finances by doing it this way."

In a composite review released earlier this month, Suso met or exceeded expectations in all seven categories board members used to evaluate him, including his personal qualities, community relations, leadership, contract negotiations, communication with selectmen, relationships with staff and his business and finance acumen.

Vice Chairman Jason Smith credited Suso with changing the negative vibe in the Memorial Building "back into a professional one," while member John Stasik said he hopes Suso brings more of his personality out this year.

"I want to know what you think," said Stasik. "I'm generally very, very happy with the performance, but I would like to see a little more passion on some issues."

This was the first time in recent memory that selectmen talked about the town manager's merit raise in public session. In previous years under former Town Manager George King, contract terms were discussed in executive session.

Suso was not surprised by the public nature of the discussion, saying that is how his raises have always been determined in his other public-sector roles.

"It's not common for most folks, but it's all part of the public domain with a position like this one," he said.

Giombetti agreed, saying board members had not discussed Suso's merit raise before Tuesday night's discussion. "The town should see how we deliberate," he said. "The evaluation is done in public session and this should be too."

Suso said he had no qualms in accepting a raise before new deals with the town's union employees, all of which expire Saturday, are finalized. Talks with municipal unions are ongoing, he said.

"Certainly we're attentive to (the negotiations) but it's one of the many things that are going on in town," said Suso. "This is not unusual and it was not unanticipated."

(Craig MacCormack can be reached at 508-626-4429 or cmaccorm@cnc.com.)

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